Days 1 and 2

The first installment of Jeremy’s adventures came today. Enjoy!

-Hope

Day One: (and Day Two:)

Platoon 461 Charlie-Bravo is very, very tired. We’ve been awake and moving for 40 hours, when we began the transit to Fort Benning on Valentine’s Day. We’re pretty bedraggled now, decked out in army-issue sweats and looking beautiful with our freshly-shaved heads. We smell like fear and stale sweat. Every time one of us starts drifting to sleep or crosses his arms/legs, the screaming starts again.

I haven’t had a chance to write until now. Last night we tried desperately to make our beds army style, and naturally nobody earned the right to sleep. We’re starting to fall apart. The drill sergeants are only interested in equipping us with our new uniforms and supplies. This includes a canteen on a belt that we must keep full and drain 12 times a day. So there hasn’t been any physical exertion worth noting, but they’ve still managed to make me wish I’d never been born. Well, not that bad, but it is difficult to interpret and accurately carry out the orders of the drill sergeants when they come fast and only once. And you’re exhausted.

It’s the ridicule that makes them so good. They are masters of biting sarcasm. The screaming reverberates down the halls from D.S.’s smoking recruits on the other side of the building. Puts your hair on end. My thought have to be totally scattered; I know that this letter probably only makes sense to me. So, in brief: tired, frustrated, sore from standing in formation with gear for so many hours, and totally unconvinced that any of this is real. I’m waiting for the movie montage to start and speed me through all of this. Patience and good temperament is invaluable. Could use some more of both right now.

I’ll have more information for you soon. I’m still in the middle of things. About to play Taps; must be in formation. Love you all. Will righ write ( so tired…) as soon as practicable.

-Jeremy